Hornet offense keeps Kittatinny guessing in 13-7 win

EAST HANOVER TWP. - The Hanover Park High
School football team runs the spread offense, meaning its players
are spread out on the field and, in this case, spreading the ball
around.

Last week, the Hornets shared the ball and got a clutch
performance from their defense as they held on to beat Kittatinny,
13-7.

"The spread offense suits us best," Hanover Park senior receiver
Dan Lourenco said. "We don't have a lot of big guys but we're a
really fast team. The coaches put in a lot of good plays and
they're working great."

On Friday, Oct. 2, Hanover Park's first play from scrimmage
didn't work that well as the Hornets fumbled the ball away on their
own 31-yard-line. Nine plays later, Kittatinny was looking at a
4th-and-goal when quarterback Stew Quinn tossed a three-yard
scoring pass to wideout Tyler Cerbo.

"We set them up for that touchdown," Lourenco said. "It wasn't
the way we wanted to start but everyone kept their heads up and
kept going."

Hanover Park came right back and tied it after the ensuing
kickoff with a nine-play, 71-yard drive. Junior quarterback Sam
Paladino helped the march with a 28-yard pass to senior running
back Kyle Niedzinski before hooking up with Lourenco for a 26-yard
touchdown pass.

On the scoring play, Lourenco was lined up to the left side and
running his route when he realized Paladino was in trouble.
Lourenco came back towards his scrambling quarterback and caught
the pass before dodging a defender and taking it in.

"I found the open window and Sam hit me," Lourenco said. "We
were pretty pumped after that."

While Lourenco was a co-captain and expected to be a major
contributor this year, Paladino had to win a three-way battle for
the quarterback job.

The younger brother of Glenn Paladino, last year's starter, Sam
alternated in Week 3 against Wallkill Valley but played almost the
entire game against Kittatinny until fourth-quarter leg cramps
forced him out.

"Sam can run and he can pass," Lourenco said. "He's pretty much
our best quarterback right now.

"We've got a lot of confidence in him and he's going to lead us
this season."

Another Hornet who's emerged this fall is junior Richard Sodeke,
who plays linebacker and running back.

In the second quarter, Sodeke set up the Hornets' second score
with a huge play on defense. With the ball near midfield, Sodeke
sacked Quinn on fourth down, giving his side the ball at the
Cougars' 40-yard-line.

"Richard came out of nowhere," Lourenco said in the literal
sense. "He played mostly junior varsity last year because we had a
lot of great players and he was only a sophomore.

"He worked his butt off and now he's helping us out a lot. He's
a great athlete and a great all-around player."

After Sodeke's big play, Paladino led the Hornets on a decisive,
40-yard touchdown drive. Paladino ran for 22 yards and hit
Niedzinski with a pair of passes before running it over from the
5-yard-line.

In the second half, both defenses took over before Kittatinny
turned in one last-ditch effort. In the fourth quarter, the Cougars
started at their own 24-yard-line and got two third-down
completions and a defensive holding penalty on their way to the
Hornets' 6-yard-line.

On 2nd-and-goal at the 6-yard-line, Hanover Park senior
co-captain and middle linebacker Luke McNally burst through and
sacked Quinn for an eight-yard loss that pushed the ball back to
the 14. Two incomplete passes followed and Hanover Park had its
third win in four tries.

"Luke doesn't say a lot but he speaks with his actions,"
Lourenco said. "He's a smart guy and a really good player.

"I had a few butterflies in my stomach at the end there but I
had confidence in our defense. I knew we could pull it out."

Now 3-1, Hanover Park figures to record win No. 4 this week as
it faces a winless team from Parsippany.

Then again, Lourenco said his team was expected to walk over
Kittatinny. He said the Hornets know better than to count their
chickens.

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